Wallpaper Made from Stone: Trove Debuts StoneGround

For the last couple of years, tile manufacturers have been striving to produce super-thin stone and ceramic that can be used to cover a substrate without major renovation or demolition, but it's a wallpaper company that seems to have pushed the process to its limit. This week, New York-based design studio Trove is debuting a collection of waterproof, rip-resistant wall"papers" made from stone... that's right, stone.

Called "StoneGround," the material is produced by grinding down marble and limestone into a fine powder. Non-toxic resin acts as the base to which the powder bonds, by way of a sprayer that can produce a variety of colors, patterns, and designs. The final product is about 80 percent calcium carbonate (mineral powder) and 20 percent resin.

There's no actual paper used to create StoneGround, and the production process requires 20 to 30% less ink than regular wallpaper. Trove co-founder Randall Buck calls it a "tree-free solution." All Trove's current designs will be available in StoneGround, and they'll be showcasing the technology in four new patterns to be launched at ICFF (May 14-17 at the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center) this week.

We'll be interested to see how StoneGround holds up against applications traditionally reserved for tile, like bathroom walls and kitchen backsplashes.